I am a Late Bloomer in the Immortal World

Thinking too much was pointless.

Wei Tu shook his head and carefully read the final message Qi Chengchu had left in the jade slip.

As he read, his feelings grew complicated.

There were no curses or accusations against him for killing him.

Instead, Qi Chengchu left behind warnings for him and intelligence about the Soul-Capturing Sect.

He even specially reminded Wei Tu of one thing that could prove dangerous: Soul-Capturing Sect’s eldest disciple, Zhang Nanqiu, was on his way.

"At the moment of death, a man’s words turn kind."

That old saying suddenly came to Wei Tu’s mind.

He didn’t know what Qi Chengchu was truly feeling when he wrote this letter before dying.

But Wei Tu had understood hundreds of years ago—this man wasn’t entirely wicked. There was still some trace of human warmth in him.

Back in the Great Void Realm, it was Qi Chengchu who deliberately deceived Hu Shan and the others, saying the formation only allowed four people through. That gave Wei Tu, Che Gongwei, Su Bing’er, and the rest a chance to escape.

Now, right before dying, he warned him that Ancestor Tianxie’s eldest disciple, Zhang Nanqiu, was coming. In a way, it echoed what had happened back then.

After all—

That reminder, no matter how you looked at it, wouldn’t harm him.

The worst result would be him running away earlier than necessary.

"Qi Chengchu really was a complicated man."

Putting away the jade slip, Wei Tu flew to where Qi Chengchu had fallen, stored the corpse into a pouch, and sighed inwardly.

He had known Qi Chengchu for three hundred years.

Back in the Loose Immortal Alliance, this man’s ruthlessness had been terrifying.

So much so that after sneaking into Kang Kingdom, Wei Tu had avoided him for a long time.

After all, Qi Chengchu had once wiped out the entire Huang Clan of Heshan just because he wanted their formation inheritance.

And now, at his final moment, he left kind words and passed on sect intelligence to the very enemy who killed him. That kind of act was absurd.

But this wasn’t the time for Wei Tu to ponder Qi Chengchu’s dying thoughts. If he didn’t want to face the Soul-Capturing Sect’s eldest disciple Zhang Nanqiu—whose strength rivaled a late Nascent Soul cultivator—he needed to escape quickly.

"Escape!"

Wei Tu’s fingers formed a rapid seal. Behind him, a huge ghostly phantom appeared.

In less than half a breath, space rippled faintly, and only a faint blood shadow was left where he had stood.

However—

Wei Tu was still a moment late.

Just as the blood shadow was fading, a burly man appeared, wearing a half suit of armor and a white bone ox-head helmet.

"A mid-stage Nascent Soul expert?"

"Fourth-tier body refinement?"

The man’s eyes flashed coldly. He lifted a hand, drew in some of Wei Tu’s lingering blood mist, and used it to lock onto his direction. Then he shot off as a streak of black light.

"Trouble."

Wei Tu, already fleeing with the Blood Escape technique, immediately sensed the pursuer behind him.

He frowned slightly. 'This isn’t good.'

His blood escape was already as fast as a late Nascent Soul cultivator. But this “Senior Brother Zhang” clearly wasn’t ordinary either.

The secret escape technique he was using was actually a little faster than Wei Tu’s.

That meant even though Wei Tu had the head start, over time he could still be caught.

He also couldn’t flee toward the Myriad Yin Sect. Doing so risked implicating his disguised identity as “Daoist Fu.”

As for staying and fighting…

Wei Tu wasn’t arrogant enough.

If it was just Zhang Nanqiu, even if he couldn’t win, he could still get away.

But what if Zhang wasn’t the only one? What if Ancestor Tianxie himself had come?

After all, Qi Chengchu had asked Ancestor Tianxie for help this time.

It was only because he had no way to contact him directly that he told Zhang Nanqiu instead, letting him pass the message along.

"Southwest, two hundred li away, there’s a small island called Huaiyin Island. Inside it lies a teleportation array connected to the Myriad Yin Sect."

At that moment, Ancestor Chìlóng’s voice echoed in Wei Tu’s mind.

With his insight, it wasn’t hard to see Wei Tu’s current dilemma. After a moment’s thought, he revealed one of his hidden retreats.

As the saying goes, a cunning rabbit has three burrows.

As the sect master of the Myriad Yin Sect, how could he not have multiple backup escape routes?

Huaiyin Island was one of the burrows he had prepared long ago.

"Huaiyin Island?" Wei Tu’s heart stirred. His escape light shifted, darting straight toward the island.

Seeing this scene, Zhang Nanqiu’s face showed a trace of surprise. Wei Tu had suddenly changed direction in his escape, which clearly shortened the distance between them. It looked no different from “delivering himself into the net.”

“Liu Yu Daoist?”

As the distance closed, Zhang Nanqiu, just like Qi Chengchu before, recognized Wei Tu’s current disguise.

“No! You’re not Liu Yu! Liu Yu would never use Ancestor Chìlóng’s Cursed Ghost Blood Escape. Are you Madam Jin, or Duan Changjing?”

Though his tone was surprised, Zhang Nanqiu quickly adjusted, guessing part of the truth.

“You’ll know who I am if you try me!” Wei Tu sneered coldly. His fingers formed a seal, and from his sleeve shot out a streak of black light, aimed straight at Wei Tu.

That black light seemed slow, but in an instant it blocked Wei Tu’s path.

“Awuuu!”

The black light suddenly turned into a wolf-headed spirit bird filled with a rotten aura. Its wings spread wide as it dove down, claws reaching for Wei Tu.

“Nether Wolf Sparrow?”

Wei Tu raised a brow slightly. At once, he understood Zhang Nanqiu’s deep background—far above the likes of Hu Shan and the other Soul-Capturing Sect cultivators.

The Nether Wolf Sparrow was the same type of ancient true-spirit descendant as the Scarlet-Eyed Fox Fairy Hu Shan had summoned outside Shentu Shangren’s underground palace. Both were famed across the ancient cultivation world of Great Cang.

But Zhang Nanqiu clearly hadn’t chosen to use a Spirit Transformation Talisman to merge the true spirit’s soul with his body. Instead, he let the beast’s soul alone fight.

Still, that kind of true-spirit descendant’s soul wasn’t enough to scare Wei Tu. He gave a light smile, released a Yang Corpse to block in front, and with his right fist smashed back the Nether Wolf Sparrow’s strike before fleeing further away.

“Mid fourth-tier body refinement?”

Seeing the soul beast he trusted repelled so easily, Zhang Nanqiu’s expression turned uncertain. For a moment, he didn’t know if he should keep chasing or give up.

Earlier, he thought Wei Tu was only early fourth-tier body refinement, so he hadn’t taken him too seriously. But now, Wei Tu’s display showed strength firmly in the mid-fourth tier.

A Nascent Soul mid-stage cultivator with dual cultivation of body and qi was not necessarily weaker than him.

And he knew his own situation.

His master, Ancestor Tianxie, needed at least two days before reaching the area near the Myriad Yin Sect.

Just as Wei Tu wasn’t willing to risk a deadly fight, Zhang Nanqiu himself wasn’t certain of forcing a result.

What truly tempted him to give up, though, was that during the chase, he had already captured traces of Wei Tu’s scattered blood mist from the Blood Escape technique.

That blood mist wasn’t enough for him to use demonic secret arts to harm Wei Tu. But it was enough for him to sense Wei Tu’s whereabouts.

‘When Master arrives, we’ll deal with you then.’ A cold glint flashed in Zhang Nanqiu’s eyes.

However—

Just as he was about to retreat, he suddenly noticed that the blood mist in his hand was turning into threads of death qi. The “source” of the trail could no longer be sensed.

“No! This isn’t his blood at all—it’s someone else’s essence blood he left on purpose!”

Zhang Nanqiu’s face changed slightly as he realized too late.

He hadn’t expected Wei Tu to have set this trap before he even arrived.

It was meant to deliberately mislead him.

Now that he’d missed this chance, catching up again was nearly impossible.

Even worse, he could already sense a formation light flaring dozens of li away, sending ripples through space.

…

Moments after Huaiyin Island’s formation activated—

Ten breaths later, Wei Tu appeared inside an underground space beneath one of the Five Islands of the Myriad Yin Sect.

“The killer of Qi Chengchu… Zhang Nanqiu won’t suspect me immediately. But he and Ancestor Tianxie must already be preparing an ambush outside the sect.”

“For now, it’s best not to leave the Myriad Yin Sect.”

Wei Tu frowned slightly, analyzing his situation.

This wasn’t entirely bad for him. He had already planned to remain inside the sect for two years.

Now with the outside so dangerous, it actually gave him some peace of mind to focus on cultivation.

Only, plans never keep up with change.

Originally, killing Qi Chengchu was meant to create the illusion that Ancestor Chìlóng was still alive, deterring Ancestor Tianxie.

Now, because of this chase, that plan was ruined.

“First, practice the Nine Secrets of Vitality and complete the Essence Vitality Seal as quickly as possible…”

Back in his cave dwelling, Wei Tu patted his pouch and brought out the fourth-tier Taisui Stone he had acquired earlier.

This fourth-tier Taisui Stone could not only greatly boost his body refinement realm, but its abundant vital essence could also help him meet the threshold for cultivating the Essence Vitality Seal.

Thinking of this, Wei Tu no longer hesitated. Hanging a seclusion plaque at the cave entrance, he cut off a piece of the stone the size of a longan fruit with one wave of his hand and swallowed it.

The next moment—

As his cultivation art circulated, Wei Tu immediately sensed surging streams of essence spreading from the Taisui Stone.

That essence made him feel as if he was soaking in the spring of life itself, his whole body relaxed and comfortable.

At the same time, his body refinement cultivation began to steadily grow stronger with each wave of essence.